English Pronunciation Key for Astronomical Bodies

This spelling pronunciation system is used on the planetoids and moons of the solar system pages. It's based on classical mythology glossaries such as those in Fagle's Iliad and Odyssey. It should cover the variation among English dialects more efficiently than the IPA. This page alphabetically lists the first thousand asteroids to be numbered, which are mostly in the main belt. ... The common noun moon (not capitalized) is used to mean any natural satellite of the other planets. ... The three-letter acronym IPA can stand for any of the following (listed in alphabetical order): Independent Pilots Association India Pale Ale Institute of Public Affairs Institute for Propaganda Analysis International Phonetic Alphabet. ...

Stress

Stress is indicated by an apostrophe after the stressed syllable (af'-ter). "Primary" and "secondary" stress are not distinguished, as the difference is due to intonation and is entirely predictable (in'-to-nay'-shun).

Vowel symbols

a as in cat (when stressed or in a closed syllable), or as in sofa (when not)
aa as in father
air as in air
ar as in car
aw as in raw
ay as in day

e as in pet
ee as in feet, peer
ew as in ewe, dew
eye as in icon (ye after a consonant, as in bye)

i as in bit

o as in pot
oe as in toe
oo as in foot
oo as in food
or as in bore
ow as in cow

u as in us
ur as in her

-ye as in bye (after a consonant, otherwise eye)

Consonant symbols

Consonants are straightforward, with the following exceptions:

dh as in then
th as in thin
s as in hiss
zh as in fusion
ng as in singer, not finger

Classical pronunciations

The pronunciations indicated by the above system are literary, completely assimilated into English. If you wish to use classical Greek pronunciations, the Greek spellings have been added to some entries. Except for long vs short α, ι, υ, the system is phonemic. See the Greek alphabet for a guide. The Greek language is written in the Greek alphabet, developed in classical times (ca 9th century BC) and passed down to the present. ...

How to pronounce classical Greek names in English

Placement of Greco-Latin stress

Names from Greek mythology are relatively straightforward to pronounce once you know where the stress is. Greek words in English were generally filtered through Latin, and in Latinate words, stress is on the penultimate syllable when that is "heavy", and on the antepenultimate syllable when the penult is "light". "Light" means a CV (consonant-short vowel) or V (short vowel) syllable.

A syllable is "heavy" when:

• it is closed by a consonant (CVC)
• the vowel is long, or a diphthong (CVV)

When more than a single consonant follows a vowel, the syllable is closed. (A consonant is not the same thing as a letter. The letters x [ks] and z [dz] each count as two consonants, but th [θ], ch [k], and ph [f] do not.)

Exception: a cluster of p, t, or c/k plus l or r is ambiguous. The preceding syllable may be considered either open or closed. E.g., for Chariklo, both ka-rik'-loh and kair'-i-kloh are accepted.

Latin long vowels are indicated with a macron (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū). Greek η and ω are long, and become ē and ō in Latin. However, Greek ι and υ each represent two vowels, long and short (long α is rare), so you need the Latin form to be sure. E.g., Ixion (Greek Ιξιων) turns out to have a long i, Ixīōn, and so is ik-sye'-on.

The Latin letters æ [aj] and œ [oj] represent diphthongs, and therefore take the stress when in the penultimate syllable. E.g., Actæon ak-tee'-un. The letter j was originally i, forming a diphthong with the preceding vowel, so it forces the stress just as æ, œ, z, and x do. A dieresis indicates that the vowels do not form a diphthong: Ausinoë aw-sin'-oh-ee (not aw'-si-nee).

If there are more than two syllables preceding a stressed syllable, follow the same rules to see which of them is stressed. E.g., Cassiopeia (also Cassiopēa) is kas'-ee-a-pee'-a: the Ca is followed by a double consonant, while the pei has a diphthong (or a long vowel in the case of pē), so these are the two stressed syllables.

Long & short vowels in English

English vowels will be pronounced "long" (ay, ee, eye, oh, ew) or "short" (a, e, i, o, u) independently of the length of the Latin or Greek vowels. Generally, vowels followed by more than one consonant will be short, as in Hermippe her-mip'-ee (except final -es, which is always eez as in Pales pay'-leez); and vowels with no following consonant will be long.

However, when a vowel is followed by a single consonant (or by p, t, c/k plus l, r) and then another vowel, it gets more complicated. If unstressed, the syllable will be open, and the vowel will often be reduced to schwa. If the penultimate syllable is stressed, it will be open and the vowel long, as in Europa ew-roh'-pa. If any other syllable is stressed, it will be closed and the vowel will be short, as in Ganymede gan'-i-meed, Oedipus ed'-a-pus, Anaxagoras an'-ak-sag'-or-us. (Note that r tends to close the preceding syllable regardless, and has its own effect on the vowel, as in Elara ee-lair'-a.)

However, even when not penultimate, stressed u stays long before a single consonant (or p, t, c/k plus l, r), as in Jupiter jew'-pi-tur.

Also, a stressed non-high vowel (a, e, or o) stays long before a single consonant (or p, t, c/k plus l, r) followed by an ee sound (e, i, or y) before another vowel: Proteus proh'-tee-us, Demetrius de-mee'-tree-us, Orthosie or-thoh'-see-a. This may be because such words generally have alternate pronunciations where the e, i, or y is pronounced y, and the preceding syllable would therefore be open because it's penultimate: proh'-tews, or-thoh'-sya.

Note that these are generalizations, and that many names are idiosyncratic.